1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a supply apparatus for supplying a screw or a similar article having a shaft and a head portion, whose diameter is larger than the shaft portion (e.g., screw, rivet, or the like, to be referred to as a screw hereinafter), to a predetermined position and, more particularly, to a screw supply apparatus having a dipper for dipping up screws and a chute for supplying the dipped screws to a predetermined position.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In a screw supply apparatus disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Disclosure No. 57-91575, a dipper, having an upper surface on which a guide slit for receiving a shaft of a screw is open, is oscillatingly arranged in a screw stock section and is coupled to a chute, having an upper surface on which a guide slit is open, thereby supplying screws to a predetermined screw supply section. In this apparatus, screws in an abnormal position on the upper surface of the dipper are removed using a brush member so that only screws in a normal position, that is where the shaft is inserted in the guide slit on the upper surface of the chute and the head portion is engaged with a side edge portion of the upper opening of this slit, are smoothly supplied to the predetermined screw supply section. In the abnormal-position screw-removing mechanism disclosed in this disclosure, the brush member is arranged obliquely upward of the dipper, and when the dipper dips up screws and the upper surface of the dipper becomes horizontal, the brush member is pushed forward by an air cylinder at a proper timing so as to remove the screws of abnormal position.
With this mechanism, however, when the upper surface of the dipper becomes horizontal, oscillating movement of the dipper is temporarily interrupted and, at the same time, the brush member is moved forward, thus requiring accurate timing control. Therefore, a plurality of air cylinders and air pipes are necessary, resulting in a complicated and bulky apparatus. In addition, a dipping operation of the dipper cannot be performed quickly.